Jesuit, Westview on return path to final

Roseburg struggled to get through Jesuit's inside defense in their loss Wednesday.

Photo by Cliff Pfenning, oregonsports.com

The Class 6A boys basketball teams with the top players continued on a path to meet in a rematch of last year's state final.

Jesuit beat upstart Roseburg and Westview survived a tense game with North Medford Wednesday to move into the semifinals at the state tournament being played at the Rose Garden.

JESUIT 68, ROSEBURG 39

The New World Order that might have emerged with a Roseburg win over Jesuit lasted two possessions, after which the Crusaders ran away to prepare for their semifinal game Friday.

After Ryan Benson hit a 3-point jump shot for Jesuit on the game's first possession, Roseburg tied the game on a 3-pointer by Tim Weber. The Indians had a chance to tie the game at 5-all with a pair of free throws, but Weber made just one of two and the Crusaders reeled off a 12-2 run from there and were never challenged.

Jesuit (24-2), looking for its third-straight state title, will play Central Catholic Friday in the semifinals.

Roseburg (19-7) dropped into the consolation bracket and will play Lincoln Thursday morning.

The Crusaders made 24 of 37 shots from the field, including 10-of-18 3-point attempts, and finished with a 36-20 edge in rebounds.

Weber led Roseburg with 9 points.

CENTRAL CATHOLIC 61, LINCOLN 44

Central Catholic got 16 points and 15 rebounds from Brennan Scarlett and powered through a cold start and into the semifinals against their inner-city rivals.

Lincoln led 19-11 after the opening eight minutes, but the Rams dominated the game from there with balanced scoring and rebounding of the Cardinals poor shooting. Lincoln made just 3 of 18 3-point attempts. David Carr, Kidus Ephram and Will Bond also scored in double figures for Central Catholic.

JT Flowers led Lincoln with 15 points.

The Rams improved to 24-3, while Lincoln dropped to 20-8.

NORTH MEDFORD 64, WEST LINN54

North Medford got 19 points from Derek Mautz and 10 points and 19 rebounds from Jordan Browne-Moore and ended West Linn's underdog run.

The Lions, the lowest playoff seed - No. 6 - still playing, trailed by 12 entering the fourth quarter, but cut the deficit to 46-40 with 4:53 left. They got a steal on the ensuing possession and fired up a 3-pointer, but it missed and the the Black Tornado scored on its next two possessions and West Linn did not have another shot to cut the lead to less than six.

Mario Shonkwiler led West Linn with 18 points.

The teams combined to hit just 8 of 37 3-point attempts.

North Medford will play Westview in the semifinals Friday, while West Linn plays South Medford in the consolation bracket Thursday morning.

WESTVIEW 54, SOUTH MEDFORD 51

In the best game of the day, Austin Kuemper and the Wildcats edged the Panthers with clutch shooting, especially at the free-throw line.

Kuemper, headed to the University of Oregon, scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Westview, which also got 15 points from Miles Gatewood and 11 points from Dyrall Goods.

Goods hit a 3-point shot with 1:34 left to push Westview ahead 52-50, and Gatewood made two free throws with 6 seconds left for a 54-51 lead. South Medford missed a 3-point shot with 1 second left.